Tragic police deaths offer more perspective

It was impossible to read about the four police officers
shot to death Sunday in Washington state without thinking about the current
controversy swirling here in Portland. That controversy, of course, is a public
opinion fight over appropriate use of force. The most recent incident involves
a 12-year-old girl who was shot with (but was not seriously harmed by) a
beanbag gun while resisting arrest.

Officer Christopher Humphreys was the officer who fired the
non-lethal beanbag at the girl's thigh. He was placed on leave and police
officers have since marched in downtown Portland to support him in particular
and the job that police officers do in general. Those who marched wore shirts
that said, “I am Chris Humphreys" ... the point being that officers are often in
the middle of intense circumstances, forced to make decisions based on the
unpredictable actions of other people.

When I first saw the video of the 12-year-old girl fighting
off officers, I didn't realize the officer who shot the beanbag at the girl's
thigh was that Christopher Humphreys, the same officer that chased and then
fell on James Chasse, a schizophrenic man who died in police custody from blunt
force trauma to the chest. And while I thought it was unfortunate that the
beanbag shotgun was used and how frightening that could have been for the girl
(if she was even aware of the action before it happened), I didn't think the
use of force was out of the question. She was not cooperating and the officer
struggling with her could have been in danger as a result.

Even if two officers
could have eventually subdued the girl without firing a beanbag at her, how
much danger were they putting themselves in by wrestling with her at length,
leaving themselves unable to respond to potential threats around them?

As we were reminded Sunday after four officers in Parkland,
Wash., were shot to death while doing paperwork in a coffee shop, cops are
targets. They are in harm’s way because of the very nature of their job. They
have to be on guard, overly cautious and ready and willing to make quick
decisions to protect themselves — to stay alive. Because even when they aren’t
actively pursuing a suspect or wrongdoer, they can be in danger simply because
of the clothes they are wearing.

When a police officer is involved in more than one
high-profile skirmish in which the use of force is questioned, it is important
that administrators and city leaders investigate and evaluate an officer’s
ability to serve. That’s happening. But the rest of us owe it to police
officers to give them the benefit of the doubt until a pattern of impropriety
or lack of ability is clear — because even when their actions are entirely
appropriate, less than ideal and even tragic outcomes can result.

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is an officer’s
job description. Just ask the families of those four police officers killed
Sunday.